PUBLIC MARKS with tags call & new

Republican prospects in November's elections are decidedly brighter today as result of the ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court on same-sex marriage. The court ruled that same sex partners must be granted the same rights and benefits afforded opposite-sex couples under New Jersey's civil marriage statues, but deferred to the state legislature the decision on whether the same sex arrangement should be called marriage. So the court essentially said that same sex partnership walks like a duck, looks like a duck and should be granted all the rights and benefits of a duck, but concluded it didn't have the authority to call it a duck.

Dubbed a "social experiment," the next season of the CBS reality show "Survivor" will divide its contestants at the beginning of the season by race. Critics call the move offensive and an "insult to anyone of an intelligent mind."